Thursday, May 24, 2018

Marvel's August previews reviewed

Marvel Entertainment sure is slow-walking their "fresh start." This August, it looks like only one book will be relaunching with a new #1, The Punisher, which will retain the same writer currently writing it, but gain a new artist (Not Mike Zeck, who drew the above image, although that would be cool). So it looks like one of the pre-"Legacy" new-#1s-for-no-reason relaunches. The other new launches include the return of two Marvel super-teams of varying degrees of importance to the publisher's history, one of them expected (indeed, already announced) and the other somewhat out-of-left field. And then there are mini-series and events, including an Infinity thing, a Spider- thing, a Wolverine thing and an X-Men thing or two, most of which I won't mention, because I don't care.

Let's take a look, shall we?

CHAMPIONS #23
JIM ZUB (W) • KEVIN LIBRANDA (A)
Cover by R.B. SILVA
While Ironheart and Amadeus Cho take major steps forward in their super hero journeys, Nova takes a step back.
As the team faces a complicated and dangerous threat, Sam Alexander wonders: is there a future for him with the Champions?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I am very, very far behind on Champions--the last I read was the Avengers & Champions: Worlds Collide collection--but based on the solicitation copy, I have to assume the guy on the left that looks like Beast Boy is actually Amadeus Cho, who looks a lot different than the last time I saw him, when he was The Totally Awesome Hulk. And the person on the left must be Ironheart, in a new terrible, terrible looking suit of armor? Huh, I guess Marvel wasn't going to cede the worst-redesign-for-a-young-female-character crown to DC for their Supergirl redesign without a fight.

EDGE OF SPIDER-GEDDON #1 & 2 (of 4)
Issue #1 – JED MACKAY (W) • GERARDO SANDOVAL (A/C)
Issue #2 – ZAC THOMPSON & LONNIE NADLER with Gerard Way (W) • JAKE WYATT (A/C)
...
SPIDER-GEDDON IS COMING!
issue #1 – Spider-Punk is back and better than ever. After SPIDER-VERSE, Hobie Brown was a Web Warrior, but that didn’t mean things back in his universe were solved. The writer of the SPIDER-PUNK story in SPIDER-VERSE is back and joined by VENOM’S Gerardo Sandoval! Spider-Punk’s Earth is under attack both on the ground and from space, meaning his responsibility seems to outweigh his power. Don’t miss this first shot of the SPIDER-EVENT of 2018!
issue #2 – After Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance, The Umbrella Academy) and Jake Wyatt created SP//dr back in SPIDER-VERSE, she was one of the most requested heroes. With Spider-Geddon on the horizon, SP//dr is back. Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler are joining the team to bring you the next chapter in Peni Parker’s life and set the table for the Spider-Event of 2018!
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (EACH)

"Spider-Geddon" is an even better dumb/awesome name for a Spider-Man event than "Spider-Verse" was. I approve.

I can only hope that this new volume of Exiles comics are as good as their covers. That's a pretty awesome Cowboy Magneto, doubly so because his magnetic powers means he doesn't even need guns, but could just "shoot" the bullets using his his powers and maybe finger guns for effect, right? The fact that he is instead using them to float pistols in front of him, though, and would then use his mastery of magnetism to pull the trigger and fire the guns? That's brilliant.

FANTASTIC FOUR #1
DAN SLOTT (W) • SARA PICHELLI (A)
Cover by ESAD RIBIC
VIRGIN ART VARIANT COVER BY ESAD RIBIC
PREMIERE VARIANT COVER BY ESAD RIBIC
VARIANT COVER BY SARA PICHELLI
VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS
VARIANT COVER BY Emanuela LUPACCHINO
REMASTERED VARIANT COVER BY GEORGE PEREZ
BLACK AND WHITE REMASTERED VARIANT COVER BY GEORGE PEREZ
VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
WRAPAROUND CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY ARTHUR ADAMS (1 OF 2)
RETURN OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR VARIANT COVER BY MARK BROOKS
MR. FANTASTIC VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
INVISIBLE WOMAN VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
THE THING VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
HUMAN TORCH VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
VENOMIZED PARTY VARIANT BY SIMONE BIANCHI
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
FOUREVER Part One
BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT – THE WORLD’S GREATEST COMIC MAGAZINE IS BACK!
Since the end of SECRET WARS, there’s been a gap in the Marvel Universe. A void no other team can fill. And it’s time for the world to move on. But can it? A life-changing decision by the Thing! A momentous declaration by the Human Torch! A clarion call-to-arms that summons Doctor Doom! And a signal in the sky that heralds the return of hope to the Marvel Universe! All this, and Alicia Masters adopts kittens! So cute! Plus, the Impossible Man!
AND BONUS STORIES ILLUSTRATED BY SIMONE BIANCHI AND SKOTTIE YOUNG!
IF YOU READ ONLY ONE MARVEL COMIC THIS MONTH, THIS IS THE ONE!
56 PGS./Rated T …$5.99

Marvel hasn't had a Fantastic Four comic since 2015, and half of the team--the boring half of Reed and Sue--have been MIA in the Marvel Universe during all that time. Has that been a long enough period of rest for the publisher's founding (but exhausted) franchise that the return of an FF book to the new comics stands is enough of an event to make this attempt a hit?

Marvel seems to have their doubts, based on how many goddam variant covers are accompanying this issue's release. Jeez, just look at them all...! (That's the Arthur Adams one I put up there, because I like it a lot.)

I have some doubts, too. The team has been rather notably absent, and while there have been reactions to that absence felt in various books--Peter Parker using the Baxter Building, Victor Von Doom trying to be a good guy, Ben and Johnny bumming around on lame-o super-teams--it doesn't seem like enough groundwork has been laid for their return. That is, it's not like Civil War II or Secret Empire turned on Reed and Sue not being around to hold the superhero community together, or stand-up to Captain Hydramerica, you know?

It doesn't feel like Marvel has done all that much to demonstrate the need or relevance of the team, nor does it seem quite long enough that their return feels like as big a deal as it might have if they waited two more years (The latter goes quadruple for Wolverine, who I haven't had a chance to miss yet, but who is slated to return in a new Wolverine #1 in September, apparently).

All that said, I can't think of a better choice for a writer to take on this unenviable task than Dan Slott, who seems to have both a deep knowledge of and genuine affection for the characters and their adventures, and has established himself as a trusted source of successful Marvel comics over the years (Maybe Mark Waid, although he's already written a rather memorable run on the book. Brian Michael Bendis might have been a good choice too, as he had otherwise written all of Marvel's franchises, but he moved to DC...and, honestly, I don't think he would fit the characters quite as well as Slott should).

Sara Pichelli is a great artist too, and I'm looking forward to seeing her take on these most Marvel of Marvel characters.

MARVEL RISING: MS. MARVEL/SQUIRREL GIRL #1
Devin Grayson, G. Willow Wilson & Ryan North (W)
Ramon Bachs and Irene Strychalski (A)
Cover by GURIHIRU
VARIANT Cover by ELSA CHARRETIER
CONNECTING VARIANT COVER BY RIAN GONZALES (3 of 4)
THE GAME IS UP IN THE PENULTIMATE CHAPTER OF MARVEL RISING!
When Ember Quade traps Ms. Marvel, Squirrel Girl and their friends in a video-game reality, they’ll have to fight their way through the terrifying villain hordes of Ember’s imagination! But when they reach the final level, even Ember will be surprised at what they find. All the cards hit the table as award-winning writers Devin Grayson, G. Willow Wilson and Ryan North take MARVEL RISING to its heights!
56 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$5.99

I swear this very comic has been solicited every month for the last few months now, always with a new #1. Wait, it's the Internet; I can check! Huh. So last month it was Marvel Rising: Squirrel Girl/Ms. Marvel #1, the order of the title characters flip-flopped, and the month before that it was Marvel Rising: Alpha #1, and then two months before that it was Marvel Rising #0. See, this is one reason it's better to just trade-wait these damn things. The other? Who can choose between a Gurihiru and an Elsa Charretier cover? Best to wait for the trade, which will almost definitely include both.

WEB OF VENOM: VE’NAM #1
DONNY CATES (W) • JUANAN RAMIREZ (A)
Cover by Ryan Stegman
...
SPINNING OUT OF THE PAGES OF VENOM!
As the United States of America struggled through the Vietnam War, Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. needed a secret weapon – and when an ancient creature was discovered at an archaeological dig site, he was sure he’d found it. In reality, the discovery was an ancestor of the Klyntar symbiotes…and would become a waking nightmare for a platoon of American soldiers!
40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

Wow. A Venom/The 'Nam mash-up comic with a cutesy joke title isn't something I ever expected to see in existence. That's...that sure is something.

WEST COAST AVENGERS #1
KELLY THOMPSON (W) • STEFANO CASELLI (A/C)
...
A NEW ERA DAWNS…AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!
HAWKEYE (KATE BISHOP). HAWKEYE (CLINT BARTON). A guy named FUSE. Never have they ever been called “the big three” of…anything. And now here they are, reunited for, okay, well, it’s only the second time ever. Thank god they also brought AMERICA CHAVEZ, GWENPOOL and KID OMEGA. Wait. What? That’s right, it’s the new West Coast Avengers, son. And you better hope they can figure out how to save the world because BIG things are headed for the West Coast.
40 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

So last week my friend came up to me at work and asked me to guess what Kelly Thompson's new book was going to be. My first guess was Jessica Jones. I guessed a few others, and then gave up, at which point she showed me the above cover image on her phone. If I had, say, 45 guesses, West Coast Avengers certainly wouldn't have been one of them, and not just because Marvel has seemed to be contracting the number of books in their way-too-overextended-for-way-too-long Avengers line. It just wasn't on my radar, like, at all. Ever.

Curious line-up there, too, with some of the more out-there choices--Gwenpool, Kid Omega--apparently chosen because of their color schemes.

So, serious question. The title of this comic isn't actually "X-Classified," is it...? Is it, instead, "X-" something-or-other, or does "X-Classified" just mean it's going to be an X-Men book with a classified title...? And, whichever the answer, what could it possibly be that just the title of the book alone would serve as a spoiler? We already know that Wolverine is coming back in a new book called Wolverine debuting in September, for example, and Professor X seems to be alive-ish. Something with Cyclops maybe...? But, whatever it is, how could it genuinely be a spoiler? What could possibly be so shocking that no one would see it coming, and just giving the title would give it away...?

No comments:

About Me

J. Caleb Mozzocco is a freelance writer and (extremely) amateur(-ish) artist who lives and works in Ohio.
This is his blog.
You can reach him at jcalebmozzocco@gmail.com.
Creators and publishers who would like their books considered for review here and/or anywhere else he contributes can feel free to contact him at the address above.
Editors and publishers of respectable publications who would like Caleb to write about comics for them are also welcome to contact him and offer him work. He loves money.